2. Early Middle Age and Romanesque
Early Middle Age (2 works)
53. Merovingian looped fibula. Early medieval Europe. Mid-sixth century C.E.
Silver gilt worked in filigree, with inlays of garnets and other stones.
55. Lindisfarne Gospels: St. Matthew, cross-carpet page; St. Luke portrait
page; St. Luke incipit page. Early medieval (Hiberno Saxon) Europe. c. 700 C.E.
Illuminated manuscript (ink, pigments, and gold on vellum).
Romanesque Art (2 works)
58. Church of Sainte-Foy. Conques, France. Romanesque Europe. Church: c.
1050–1130 C.E.; Reliquary of Saint Foy: ninth century C.E., with later
additions. Stone (architecture); stone and paint (tympanum); gold, silver,
gemstones, and enamel over wood (reliquary).
59. Bayeux Tapestry. Romanesque Europe (English or Norman). c. 1066–1080
C.E. Embroidery on linen.
9. Summary
• 410 - Fall of Rome – Political Chaos
• 7th century : Dark Ages – Mass migrations
Attila, Vandals, Vikings… created a period of
instability
• Destruction of the remains of Roman
civilization
• Unifying force - Christianity
17. Merovingian looped fibula. Early medieval Europe. Mid-
sixth century C.E. Silver gilt worked in filigree, with
inlays of garnets and other stones.
cloisonné
18.
19. Merovingian looped fibula. Early medieval
Europe. Mid-sixth century C.E. Silver gilt worked
in filigree, with inlays of garnets and other
stones.
• Used to fasten garments
• Found in the tomb of a wealthy Merovingian
woman
• Emblems of office and of prestige
• decorative patterns adjusted carefully to the
basic shape of the object
• Integration of zoomorphic elements
20. Characteristics of Early Middle Ages
• Portable objects (fibuale, belt buckles…)
• Interlacing pattern (from Celts)
• Horror Vacui
• Abstract depictions of animals and figures
• Animal style
21. Art of the Warrior Lords
Other than the ornamentation of ships used for
burials, the surviving artworks of this period are
almost exclusively small-scale status symbols,
especially items of personal adornment such as
bracelets, pins, purses and belt buckles, often
featuring cloisonné decoration. A mixture of
abstract and zoomorphic motifs appear on
these portable treasures. Especially
characteristics are intertwined animal and
interlace patterns.
29. Importance of Monasteries
• Repositories for books and documents
Library filled with sacred texts as well as literary,
scientific and philosophical works by Greek and
Roman authors.
• Learning centers
• Literacy centers
32. Lindisfarne Gospels: St. Matthew, cross-carpet page; St. Luke
portrait page; St. Luke incipit page. Early medieval (Hiberno
Saxon) Europe. c. 700 C.E. Illuminated manuscript (ink, pigments,
and gold on vellum).
Bishop Eadfrith
43. Lindisfarne Gospels: St. Matthew, cross-carpet page; St. Luke
portrait page; St. Luke incipit page. Early medieval (Hiberno
Saxon) Europe. c. 700 C.E. Illuminated manuscript (ink,
pigments, and gold on vellum)
• Marriage between Christian imagery and the animal-
interlace style
• Created by Eadfrith on the Lindisfarne island
• 259 leaves – including full-page portraits of each
evangelist; highly ornamental “cross-carpet” pages and
the 4 Gospels Gospels (Luke, Matthew, John and Mark)
themselves, each introduced by an historiated initial.
• Influenced by a manuscript from Italy (portrait pages)
• Decoration typical from Hiberno-Saxon art: decorative
panels of abstract and zoomorphic forms, small,
infinitely complex, and painstaking designs
44. Hiberno-Saxon Art
Art Historians call the Christian art of the early
medieval Britain and Ireland Hiberno-Saxon or
Insular.
The most important existant artworks are the
illuminated manuscripts produced in the
monastic scriptoria of Ireland and Northumbria
45. Hiberno-Saxon Art
Insular books feature folios devoted neither to the
text nor to illustration but to pure embellishment.
“Carpet pages” consist of decorative panels of
abstract and zoomorphic motifs. Some books also
have full pages depicting the four evangelists or
their symbols.
Text pages often present the initial letters of
important passages enlarged and transformed into
elaborate decorative patterns.
48. Historical Background
• End of the great migration
• Economic Growth
• Political stability
• Increase of the population
• Vikings Christianized (10th century): Normandy
/ Britain / Sicily
• Beginning of the reconquest of Spain by
Christians
51. Importance of the church
• Importance of the pope
• Monasteries – important economic and
intellectual centers
52. Age of pilgrimages
• Fear of Apocalypse in 1000
• Crusades (from 1095 to 15th century)
• Pilgrimages (Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago)
• Importance of Relics
• Last Judgment scenes popular
55. Consequence of pilgrimages
• Multiplication of the relics
• New important religious centers “building
boom”
• Massive flow of People – Need of a new kind
of architecture
• Flow of ideas around the continent
56. Characteristics of Romanesque
Architecture
• Revitalization of large scale architecture
(monumentality and solidity)
• Large apse
• Stone Roofs (fireproof)
In Italy – wood ceilings
• Thick walls
• Small Windows (dark interiors)
• Rib vaults
64. Romanesque Architecture
Romanesque takes its name from the Roman-
like barrel and groin vaults based on round
arches employed in many European churches
built between 1050 and 1200. Romanesque
vaults, however, are made of stone, not
concrete.
65. Romanesque Architecture
Numerous churches sprang up along the
pilgrimage roads leading to the shrine of Saint
James at Santiago de Campostela. These
churches were large enough to accommodate
crowds of pilgrims who came to view the relics
displayed in radiating chapels off the
ambulatory and transept.
67. Church of Sainte-Foy. Conques, France. Romanesque Europe.
Church: c. 1050–1130 C.E.; Reliquary of Saint Foy: ninth century
C.E., with later additions. Stone (architecture); stone and paint
(tympanum); gold, silver, gemstones, and enamel over wood
(reliquary).
84. Church of Sainte-Foy. Conques,
France. Romanesque Europe. Church:
c. 1050–1130 C.E.
• Important pilgrimage center – Saint’s relics
• Builders have to accommodate large crowds
• Latin-cross basilica and radiating chapels
• Wooden roofs substituted by stone barrel
vault that needs extra support (buttresses)
• Christian stories accessible to a largely
illiterate population through sculptures
• Christ in Majesty and Last Judgment
85. Characteristics of Romanesque
Sculpture
• Revitalization of large scale sculpture
• Importance of the church portal sculpture
(Last Judgment)
• Flattened look / zigzagging drapery
• Importance of expression (bigger head and
hands)
• Hierarchy of scale
86. Romanesque sculpture
The Romanesque period brought the revival of
monumental stone relief sculpture in cloisters
and especially in church portals, where scenes
of Christ as last judge often greeted the faithful
as they entered the doorway to the road to
salvation.
93. Mary and Christ and two Angels,
Chapel of Castel Appiano, Italy, c.1200
94. Romanesque Painting
• Manuscripts and Mural painting
• Figures outlined in black and colored
• Rich colors
• Bi dimensional (flat)
• No reality (figures float)
• Importance of drapery for decoration (no
definition of the body)
• Importance of human figure
99. Bayeux Tapestry, c.1070-1080
• Embroidery
• Norman Invasion of England (1066)
• Commissioned by Bishop Odo, half brother of
William the Conqueror
• 230 feet / 70,10 m.
• 628 human figures
• 731 animals
• 376 boats
• 70 buildings and trees
109. The Bayeux Tapestry
After their conversion to Christianity in the early
10th century, the Vikings settled on the northern
coast of France. From there, Duke William of
Normandy crossed the channel and conquered
England in 1066.
The Bayeux Tapestry chronicles that war – a
unique example of contemporaneous historical
narrative art in the Middle Age.
110. Bayeux Tapestry. Romanesque Europe
(English or Norman). c. 1066–1080 C.E.
Embroidery on linen.
• Embroidery not tapestry
• Continuous frieze like, pictorial narrative of
the Norman victory over the Anglo-Saxons in Hastings in
1066
• Seventy-five scenes with Latin inscriptions
• Commissioned by Bishop Odo, half brother of the
conquering Duke William (Norman point of view)
• Closely related to Romanesque manuscript illumination
(animals on the margins)
• Probably sewn by women at the Norman court
(Canterbury?)
111. Romanesque Art is a mixture of:
• Roman style
• Insular Style
• Byzantine Style
112. Romanesque Art is a mixture of:
• Roman style
• Insular Style
• Byzantine Style
113. Romanesque Art is a mixture of:
• Roman style – Roman-style architecture
without concrete
• Insular Style – Interlace and abstracts animals
• Byzantine Style – Emotional depictions of Bible
stories and the fairly realistic bodies under the
drapery
122. Romanesque in Italy
The regional diversity of Romanesque art and
architecture is especially evident in Italy, where
the heritage of ancient Rome and Early
Christianity was strongest.
123. Romanesque in Italy
Romanesque churches in Pisa and Florence have
timber roofs in contrast to the vaulted interiors
of northern European buildings. The exterior
often feature marble paneling of different
colors. Churches campaniles were usually
freestanding, as were baptistery, which took the
form of independent central-plan building.
125. Bibliography
• Adams, Laurie Schneider. Art across Time. 4th
ed. Boston:McGraw-Hill, 2011.
• Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art Throught the
Ages: A Global History. 13th ed.
Thomson/Wadsworth, 2009.
• Stokstad, Marilyn and Cothren, Michael. Art
History. 5th ed. Prentice Hall, 2014.
126. And …
• Nici, John, Barron's AP Art History, Barron, 3rd
Edition, 2015
Notas del editor
After the fall of Constantine, many Western territories of the Roman Empire were lost to the numerous indgenous and migrating tribes of Europe
Beginning of the Barbarian Invasion
Go to Italy
Destroy everything
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdm7Z3TQhDg
750-850
Invasion of the British Isles/ Colonization of the North of France
Competiton for the territory
British isles divided in small kingdoms – each of them with a king
Hand decorated pages of texts
Printing invented only in 15th century (China 11th century)
Importance of the library
Parchment (all animals goat / sheep…)
Today confusion
Vellum more precious
Soak in lime to make them white and remove hair
Artisans scrapped them down to an even thickness.
Each page should be without impurities
Booklet of 8 pages - quires
So valuable that they have been used more than once
Importance of monastery
Only way we have to know the Antic texts
Conservative / Copy
Very expensive
Vow of silence
Most of the people during this time were illiterate
Monastery = central repositories for books and documents Creatin of manuscripts
Book of kells
According to the historian Bede from the nearby monastery in Monkwearmouth (d. 735), this calf, or ox, symbolizes Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Bede assigns symbols for the other three evangelists as well, which Eadfrith duly includes in their respective portraits: Matthew’s is a man, suggesting the human aspect of Christ; Mark’s the lion, symbolizing the triumphant and divine Christ of the Resurrection; and John’s the eagle, referring to Christ’s second coming.
S. Matthew on a bench, writing his gospel
Behind the curtain – inspiration from God (Moise)
Byzantine influence : Greek words and handcovered
Flattened and linear elements
Soft modeling of Byzantine art turned into crisp cusp-shaped in S.Mmatthew’s drapery
S. Matthew on a bench, writing his gospel
Behind the curtain – inspiration from God (Moise)
Byzantine influence : Greek words and handcovered
Flattened and linear elements
Soft modeling of Byzantine art turned into crisp cusp-shaped in S.Mmatthew’s drapery
Oure ornementation
British Library in London
Lindisfarne Gospel
Island North “Holy Island”
combining Mediterranean, Anglo-Saxon and Celtic elements
Flattened elements
259 pges and
full-page portraits of each evangelist
highly ornamental “cross-carpet” pages, each of which features a large cross set against a background of ordered and yet teeming ornamentation; and the Gospels themselves, each introduced by an historiated initial. The codex also includes sixteen pages of canon tables set in arcades. Here correlating passages from each evangelist are set side-by-side, enabling a reader to compare narrations.
Interlace
Eadfrith became bishop of Lindisfarne
Egg and fishglue to bind the colour
Local and exported mineral (lapis Lazuli)
The originbal jewel-encrusted leather cover was lost during one of the many Vikings raid
“Roman like” (19th century)
Stylistic trends for than historical period
Heir of the Carolingian architecture
In the same time than Ottonian
Stone vault – Arch – Roman
First appeared in 1818
Muslim in the South
Magyar (hungary in the North)
Normandy – Vikings
William the Conqueror conquested Britain in 1066
Every country with strong region
Importance of the Church
More innovative area – France
11th century less invasion – everybody is Christian
12th century – Sicily becomes Normand
No centralized power
Allegiance
Lot of conflict but an equilibrium has been reached – Economic growth (in particular in Italy)
Symbiotic relationship between lords and peasants
The Pope is the only unifying authority.
Church owned lot of land
(In France 1/3)
Atone - expier
What is a relic?
Miraculous.
Santiago – Saint James
Less dangerous than Jerusalem and Rome
Attracted many French (// Charlemagne)
Along the road, may churches and abbeys, Hospice (lodging places) for the pilgrims
A year or more
Shrines on key point
Most wellknown because guide
Adaptation of Roman basilica
Many Romanesque churches use Barrel Vault or groin vault
Later building – Rib vault – taller and lighter
The concrete has been lost
Stone and mortar
The weight is load down to the walls onto the massive piers below
Higher – open larger window –
Fireproof
Weatherproof
Easy to maintain
Better acoustic
Fireproof
Waterproof
Excellent acoustic – gregorian musique
Church of the village
Massive
Ostentation
Ealiest example of pilgrimage church
On the tomb of S. Foy (3rd century martyrs)
Gold / gemstones on a wooden chore (85 cm)
Skull inside?
Power
Buttresses
Importance of ambulatory for crowds
Barrel vaults with vault to divided the space in bay
Massive piers with columns
Very nude – idea of the 19th century – back to a primitive faith
Lot of destruction
Tapestry and decoration
Around 1000 – fear of apocalypse – popular last judgement scene
Still colours
Tympanum _ Vision of the other world
Display biblical scenes over the doorway+More symbolic than realistic
You can understand even if you don’t know how to read
Mandorla
Right // Left
The Medieval Sixtine
Representation of the old testament
Borders / frame
Abel and Cain
People bigger than buiding
Legs are often crossed (dansing movement)
Big head and hands
Expressif
Elegant, curvilinear pattern
Drapery reaveled the body // Byzatine
Embrodery : a woven product in which the design is stitched into a premage fabric
Loom – metier à tisser
Probably realized by women but designed by a man
Queen Mathilde
Norman Invasion of England
Stitching 8 colours of wool onto bleached linen
Made by women but designed by a man
Mabybe for the cathedral
Borders sometimes comment on the main scenes or show scenes of everyday life
Color used in a non-natural manner: different part of a horse are colored variously
Flat
Schematic architecture
Fanciful beasts in upper and lower register
Inscription Fanciful beays in upper and lower register
Inscription on latein
Neutraò background
Flatness // no shadow
// Trajan’s column
on latein
Borders sometimes comment on the main scenes or show scenes of everyday life
Color used in a non-natural manner: different part of a horse are colored variously
Neutraò background
Flatness // no shadow
// Trajan’s column
Influenced by classical tradition
No façade tower,
No westw orks
// Early Christian Basilicas
Pisa : republic – defeated the muslims – booty _ new cathedral
11-13th century
Antiquity elements:
Columns / Arches
Arcades and blind arcades on the facese
Polychromy
// French portal
4 stories of freestanding columns – arcaded gallery
Double aisles in transept
Apses at the end of transpet
Wooden ceilng on the nave
Groin vault on the aisles
Elliptical Dome // islamic tradition
Crusade / trade in the mediteranee
Same arcades on the lower level than cathedral
Upper stories and dome later.
In Italy - bell tower divided from the Church
In Northern Europe, makes part of the church
6 stories od arcated galleries
Cylindrical leaning tower
Sense of unity of the entire complex
Inscription illustrates the pride the donors felt in havong such a significamt artist work for them.
Inspired by Early Christian sarcophagi
Domination of human figures / narrative breaks the frame
High relief
